Fulton County

School System officials are sharpening their pencils after this week's

public meetings on redistricting students in South Fulton County.

School System

planning director Patrick Burke said school officials are looking at comments

from residents to add to the information they've already gathered to place

students at the new Dodson Road school site in Union City next year.

Burke said

the school will have a little over 500 students next year, and will draw

the bulk of its students from the Stonewall Tell Elementary School district.

But some students

will also come from Campbell Elementary and Evoline West Elementary schools

in Fairburn, so residents are watching the redistricting process closely.

One of the

major factors that Burke is using in this round of drawing lines is three

major residential developments planned for South Fulton.

The Cedar Grove

development, along with Durham Lakes in Fairburn and a huge Torrey development

planned for land near Interstate 85 have had school officials in constant

contact with developers for projections.

"In south

county, we normally figure .2 elementary students for every residential

unit. We're trying to make sure that we have a good number of students

for the school when it opens and also to make sure that we can handle

the growth," he said.

The school

system is also conducting hearings on redistricting plans for West Middle

School in East Point, but Burke said that will affect a small number of

students, because only 13 classrooms are being added to the facility.

After the system

gathers the community's input, it will present the information to the

Fulton County school board for a first reading at its December meeting.

The board will

vote on the final lines in February.